As an increasing number of applications and services are being made available over networks such as the Internet, an increasing number of content, application, and service providers are turning to technologies such as remote resource sharing and cloud computing.
Cloud computing, in general, is an approach to providing access to electronic resources through services, such as Web services, where the hardware and/or software used to support those services is dynamically scalable to meet the needs of the services at any given time. A user or customer typically will rent, lease, or otherwise pay for access to resources through the cloud, and thus does not have to purchase and maintain the hardware and/or software to provide access to these resources. In order to ensure that data stored by such resources is not lost or corrupted, customers often want to ensure that one or more backup mechanisms are in place. For large numbers of resources, however, this can be a very complicated process that is at risk of data loss due to human error and other causes. Further, such approaches can result in outdated data not being properly deleted or managed, resulting in excess resources being utilized and excess cost incurred.